Bacta The Future
by Jemmiah
Summary: First Aid Lessons...why does QuiGon have such a bad feeling about it?


TITLE: Bacta The Future

By Jemmiah

************

"…And then there was this holo program last night. It was about some guy who got stung by thousands of insects, and his head swelled up like a balloon and exploded!" Jemmiah declared conversationally."

Qui-Gon closed his eyes.

"Did he?"

"Yeah! And then his body was riddled with these striped things and they were coming out of his nose and mouth."

"Lovely. Delightful." Qui-Gon grimaced.

"…And then when they took him to the morgue to open him up all these things flew out of him and stung the guys doing the autopsy! See, he was riddled with…"

"Thank you, Jemmiah. I got the picture quite early on." Qui-Gon shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe they put that kind of thing on the children's channels! In my opinion hat's the sort of thing that warrants a complaint or two!"

"Oh, it wasn't on the kids channels. It was one of Obi-Wan's horror flicks…." Jemmy shrugged, kicking her feet about idly.

Her eyes suddenly went round when she realized she'd dropped the padawan right in it up to his neck.

"Whoops! Sorry, Ben…" she swallowed nervously. "I forgot I wasn't s'posed to say anything. Please don't give him a row, Master Jinn. I'd feel awful if he got into trouble because of my big mouth!"

"I don't care how awful you feel about it. It's nothing compared to how he's going to feel when I get hold of him. What was he thinking of?" Qui-Gon stood up and walked over to where she was sat on the couch, an expression of utter misery on her face. "Weren't you scared at all?"

"Well," Jemmiah looked uncomfortably at the floor, "maybe at first. But I kept telling myself that it wasn't real and that I could get away any time I wanted. That helps a lot, you know? There's a world of difference being able to walk away from a situation and being stuck in it for real. Anyway," she refused to meet his eyes, "After Nargotria there's very little left to scare me."

Qui-Gon digested her words in silence for a moment.

"I still think I will have to talk to Obi-Wan. That sort of thing isn't suitable for someone your age." Qui-Gon was adamant. "He told me it was an educational vid on bee keeping!"

"It had bees in it!" protested Jemmy. 

Qui-Gon attempted to change the subject rapidly. 

"Talking of education," he asked her casually, "what happened at school today?"

"Oh." Jemmy grunted unenthusiastically. "That."

"And?"

"We're doing a first aid class." She moped, leaning heavily on her hand. "Learning what to do if somebody breaks an arm or if their foot's hanging half off. That sort of thing."

Qui-Gon's expression became far more gentle and approving. 

"That's a wonderful idea." He remarked, smiling at the Corellian girl. "It's a useful and practical thing to learn, besides which you never really know when that kind of knowledge will come in handy."

"I guess." Jemmy sounded distinctly unenthusiastic about the whole thing.

"You don't agree?"

"It's not that, it's just that we missed our art class so we could learn how to cope with a nosebleed! I mean, where's the sense in that?" Jemmiah radiated discontentment. Art was after all her favorite subject; infact she thought that it was the only worthwhile reason for going to school. "If you've got something wrong with you should just get on with it, not make a big song and dance."

After all, she thought unhappily, a nosebleed was nothing compared to the misery she'd once been subjected to. If you had an ailment on Nargotria, you didn't show it. That way you stayed alive longer.

"Still," Qui-Gon said reasonably, "what if Obi-Wan were hurt?"

"Obi-Wan is ALWAYS hurt." Jemmiah mumbled at the ground. "I'm surprised he's not a qualified surgeon by now."

"But would you leave him in pain? Say he'd broken a leg…"

"That's not very imaginative for him." Retorted Jemmiah.

"…You wouldn't leave him, helpless and suffering. Would you?" continued the tall master.

Jemmy pursed her lips.

"S'pose not." She admitted after a while. "He'd only whine and complain until I did help him, because he's male and men are just hopeless at that sort of thing."

"Ahem!" Qui-Gon cleared his throat pointedly.

"That's a bad sounding cough you've got there, Master Jinn." Jemmy grinned incorrigibly. "But I'm afraid I don't do coughs…I can do basic fractures, nosebleeds and fits. But that's about it."

"It's always a start." The master smiled at her. "Stick with it and you may learn something that will serve you well one day."

"Okay." Agreed Jemmiah cheerfully.

Pause.

"Can I practise on you then?"

"Sorry?" Qui-Gon blinked, wondering if he'd heard right. 

"My first aid. If I'm to be good at it I have to practise, so can I use you as a patient?"

"Er…" Qui-Gon looked far from happy all of a sudden. "Obi-Wan will be in from his class shortly so I don't think that's such a good idea…"

"Oh, please!" begged Jemmiah with all her female, Corellian wiles. "I want to do well at something at school this year, even if it is just sticking bacta bandages over people's scabby knees. And," she crossed her heart solemnly, "I absolutely promise you times one hundred thousand that I won't try and shave your beard off whilst you're bandaged up!"

Qui-Gon's eyebrows did something very strange, as if they were trying to escape from his head.

"No!" he said roundly. "Absolutely not."

"I was only joking about the beard. Look," she held up her hands to prove they were empty, "I don't have a razor in sight!"

"Jemmiah, you can learn on your classmates." Qui-Gon replied insistently. "Or Obi-Wan. He's more likely to need medical assistance, going on his past record. He should be well used to being swathed in bandages."

He knew it was coming, but he was powerless to do anything about it. That deflated, utterly wretched, unhappy and above all else disappointed look that Jemmiah had perfected where he was concerned - the one that was put on for his benefit because she knew he was easily taken in by hard luck cases and that she could get round him most days if he was feeling in a generous mood. Today was not one of those days, yet behind the expression of misery he could feel genuine, unaffected hurt.

//Damn!// Qui-Gon nearly shook his head in admiration and bafflement. //How does she do it?//

"Okay. But just until Obi-Wan gets in…"

Jemmiah was already dashing in the direction of her school bag.

********* 

"Are you comfortable?" Jemmy asked so seriously that Qui-Gon had to stop himself from laughing.

"Very comfortable, thank you." He smiled.

"Because I wouldn't like to think I'd tied it too tight on you. I don't want to cut off the circulation or something bad like that."

"No, I can still feel my feet." Qui-Gon wiggled his toes just to prove his point. "You're doing an excellent job with those bandages."

Jemmiah visibly beamed with pride at the commendation, and Qui-Gon realized that he would have to work harder at being more forthcoming with his compliments where the young girl was concerned. She'd had a bad start in life but with a little effort the master felt certain he could make real strides on helping Jemmiah overcome the many problems she had as a result of her maltreatment. Master Sidatu, the soul healer, had told him to boost her confidence wherever he could.

"It's nothing special." Jemmy was still smiling from the unexpected praise. "It's just basic stuff, like making splints and things, just incase we were in an emergency where there were no healers. Say," Jemmiah tried to rack her brains for a suitably serious situation, "if we were stuck in a jungle for months on end and someone had fallen out of a tree or something."

"I can't see that situation ever arising." Qui-Gon laughed.

"You never know." Jemmy continued to bandage down towards Qui-Gon's feet. "But I'm glad I'm practicing on you and not Obi-Wan. His feet are a little rank at times."

"Oh, Obi-Wan's feet have been known to kill the force stone dead on occasions. It's an unusual phenomena called Kenobi's law, which forms little pockets of force-resistance around the soles of his feet." Qui-Gon again had to fight the urge to smile. "Why do you think he's always at the infirmary? An-Paj just wants him in there so they can run tests on him to see what makes him so special."

"Fibber!" Jemmy grinned.

Qui-Gon tried to place a hand on his heart but found it exceedingly difficult when both arms were wrapped in slings.

"I'm wounded!" he replied, pretending to be shocked at the slander aimed his direction.

"That's why I'm bandaging you!" answered Jemmiah impudently.

Qui-Gon regarded her affectionately for a moment as she started to get to the bottom of the bandages. Jemmiah was a determined and hardworking individual, even if her methods of persuasion were somewhat unconventional. Well, so what? It wasn't anything that hadn't been argued against himself in the past! They were both free, restless spirits with a keenness to learn. Perhaps he could help her out a little.

"So," he asked in a pleasant tone of voice, "If I was lying on the floor and you checked me for a pulse, but you couldn't initially find one, what would you do?"

"Tricky." Jemmy clicked her tongue of the roof of her mouth as she considered it. "I think I'd ask Master Quillan if I could borrow a spade."

"A spade?" Qui-Gon frowned, puzzled. 

"Then I'd tell Obi-Wan to dig a really big hole in the gardens some place…"

"Very amusing." Qui-Gon wasn't going to be put off in the least by her flippant answer. "What would you do if I was lying unconscious with a suspected heart attack?"

"Move into your bedroom, seeing as it's bigger!" Jemmy rubbed her hands in what Qui-Gon hoped was mock-glee.

"Try again." Sighed Qui-Gon.

"Remove your dentures!" grinned Jemmy. "To check that your airways are clear."

"I don't have dentures." Qui-Gon fixed her with a meaningful stare.

Jemmiah was very nearly finished when she suddenly, at least to Qui-Gon's way of thinking, seemed to lose her taste for the whole medical thing. Her shoulders sloped, her hands stopped bandaging and a small but definite pout began to form on her elfin face.

"What's the matter?" Qui-Gon tried to look past his bandaged arms.

"I'm bored." Jemmy huffed. "I want to treat people for real, not do all this silly stuff we learn at school."

"You have to learn the necessary details first." Qui-Gon pointed out. "You can't treat somebody by running up to them and saying 'Oh, hang on a moment - I can't remember what to do next. I wasn't paying attention in class'. That wouldn't be of much use to anyone, would it?"

"Looks like I might have to cruise the streets looking for old ladies that have fallen over." Jemmy's eyes sparkled at the thought. "Or maybe I can trip 'em over and then treat them…"

"Jemmiah!" Qui-Gon rebuked her sternly. "I hope that was a joke."

"Yes." Jemmy pulled a face. "Maybe…"

"I should hope so." Qui-Gon's bright blue eyes bored straight into her, tweaking her conscience back into line, purposely ignoring her use of the word 'maybe'. "And even if you did have something idiotic like that planned, it wouldn't work because after what happened a few months back there's no way I am letting you out on the streets alone."

"That wasn't my fault!" Jemmiah looked crestfallen. "Sal-Fina paid me to leave the temple for a bit. Where else was I meant to go?"

"If Evla hadn't been there who knows what might have happened." Qui-Gon shuddered and shook the vision from his mind. "No, you will continue to get escorted when you go to and from school, for the foreseeable future. That includes any shopping trips or any other excursions in the city. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir." Jemmy's face did the impossible - fell even further. 

Qui-Gon would have patted her reassuringly on the shoulder except that he couldn't, trussed up like ancient mummified remains. When the door chime sounded he immediately stood up to answer it.

"That will be Obi-Wan…" Qui-Gon began as he stepped towards the door - 

And fell over like a tree that had been felled by a giant saw.

Jemmiah stepped to one side as Qui-Gon went down, keen not to get in the way. Qui-Gon was a big, tall individual and she reckoned the damage he might do her if he fell in her direction might be enough to cause her some serious injury. Her evasive action was not done out of disloyalty, but instead she left the jedi to cushion his blow on the table that sat squarely between the chairs. 

Whump!

The man caught the edge of the table with his chin, before lying at the side looking distinctly stunned at the non-cooperation of his legs, as if some strange paralysis had overtaken him.

"Er…"Jemmiah hesitated between the door, the chimes ringing slightly more impatiently, and the prone Qui-Gon who lay blinking in astonishment. "Stay there, Master Jinn! I think it's Ben, er…Obi-Wan!"

"What on Coruscant?" Qui-Gon tried to look over his shoulder at his trussed-up legs. "Jemmiah! You've bandaged both my legs together!!!"

"Oh…sorry." Jemmy chewed at her lip apologetically. "I must have got carried away whilst we were chatting."

Qui-Gon wiped his chin on the slings infront of his chest and saw that it had come away somewhat bloody from where it had smacked the table. Mentally he counted to five. 

Then he made it ten.

"M-master?" Obi-Wan peered at the man curiously, not getting too close. "What happened to you?"

"Well let me see." Qui-Gon managed to struggle up onto his knees, shooting a glare directly at Obi-Wan that froze the padawan's blood. "Maybe I watched one too many of your horror holo vids and collapsed with the shock…"

Obi-Wan's eyes nearly bugged out of his head.

"Sorry." Jemmiah whispered guiltily at him. "It slipped out. Kind of…"

The padawan was already backtracking the way that he'd arrived.

"Er, yes. Well you seem to have everything under control here at the moment, master, so if you don't mind I'll maybe go study round at Zac's place. I seem to suddenly have acquired a lot of study work…"

"Nothing to the amount you'll get when I next catch up with you." Muttered Qui-Gon as he watched Obi-Wan hurriedly slink back out of the doorway.

Jemmy stood and looked down the corridor at Obi-Wan's retreating back. She'd messed everything up for him again. It just wasn't fair at all. Why couldn't she have kept her mouth shut? Now when - or indeed if - he dared return to face the music he was going to get so much strife and it was all her fault, just like Qui-Gon's current predicament was.

At least she could do something about that.

"Sorry, Master Jinn." She flashed the copper eyes soulfully at him in the hope they might somehow placate him a little, just as they usually did. "But hey, at least I'm on hand to patch you up! That could have been really nasty if I hadn't been there!"

She offered him a Bacta strip for his chin, turning it every way to see what would fit best.

"Maybe next time we could practice bee stings!"

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
